#tessellators

Thanks to our home Fat Tank Studios www.fattankstudios.co.uk/ for putting us on at such a great venue on Friday! www.newriverstudios.com/ Warehouse in Tottenham turned into artist studios full of lovely people and good beer. 

There are few things as exciting to me as sitting down for the first time to listen to a record that I've made. 

I remember the first time The German Exchange did a demo on a cassette 4-track 14+ years ago, and how we all sat in the dark in Ben 'Trelawney' Reynolds's bedroom in Holloway and listened in reverent silence to the three tracks over and over and over again. 

Last Sunday night I sat down in my kitchen, put on the headphones, and listened to the 6 songs that make up Tessellators 'Swimming' for the first time.

We'd spent 4 days at 123 Studios in Peckham making our sixth record as a band, and our last with Moh. We'd been working up to it for over 3 years, actually discarding songs and ideas for the first time (radical idea, I know), until we'd got something that we felt met the required "summertime pool party dance groove" brief. Naturally the brief was regularly subverted in the lyrics which routinely 'go dark', plus not everything is 4 to the floor dance, but still. You can dance to it.

We worked with Brett Shaw. He was incredible. 6 songs recorded and mixed in 4 days is pretty good going, and he was super efficient and highly skilled throughout. There were times when he expertly and subtly guided us away from shitness. The drumkit sounded great and was set up when we arrived on the first day. By the end of that first day we already had 3 basic tracks down. Not all of the singing had to happen in one day. "This sort of thing doesn't happen to me", as we once said.

We did a boatload of percussion. We made extensive use of our claves, and pronounced the word correctly throughout. I did some 'shit Nile Rodgers' guitar overdubs. We worked on the 'Elephant Sound'. We made a crap drum machine sound like a Nintendo Gameboy. We finally gave Beare's bass sound the attention it is due. There are synth sounds that are totally off the chain. The drums slay. Etc.

4 ten-hour days is a bit tough especially if you're sleep deprived due to having children under 2, but it really was all a breeze. And (in my view) the results sound live, but distinctive. I had a stinking cold and hacking cough so my vocals could have been easier, but Brett just calmly guided me through it. II love recording, and all in all it was the best recording experience I've ever had.

It was a nice discipline to take a break for lunch every day, and there was plenty on offer. The Vietnamese food at Rye Wax was great, and we gave the incorporated record store our final 10 Superhero records (with the packs of playing cards that cost £4 each to make) to give away to customers. The brunch by VagaBundo, 50 metres from the studio door, was so good that we had it 2 days in a row. Ham hock, toasted plantain, cassava bread, peanut butter and guava jelly OMG. As a staunch North Londoner, I have to admit that Peckham is great.

In summary, it was yet another great experience with my brothers. Very sad that it was Moh's last with us, but at the same time I'm pleased he's left on a massive high point.

Yesterday was the end of an era. Moh told us all before Christmas that after the recording of the 'Swimming' EP he wanted to take a break from music altogether. It's all amicable, but it did come as a shock, something it's going to take a while to work through and process. We have been playing together for 14 years - first as The German Exchange, then as Hundred Handed (both with Ben 'Trelawney' Reynolds), and then the four of us as Tessellators. That's a big chunk of life.

It was fitting that our old friend Tommy Mack, who was one of the first people we met and played with back in The German Exchange days, invited us to play the release show for his current band White Ape's second EP at The Constitution in Camden.

The venue is great. This pub is unpretentious with a 'traditional' feel that isn't a conscious marketing gimmick. The beer garden overlooking the canal is lovely. The cellar bar and live music venue is cosy and welcoming. There are fairy lights and candles. The sound was good, maybe because we were all close enough together for it to feel like a practice session.

And the bands we all stellar and top company. It was particularly great to meet the fantastic Rot Jaws, and to reconnect with Tommy. The bill was expertly balanced, kicking off with the rock tempest of Arrows of Time, then we did our stuff, then Rot Jaws brought some The Ex-flavoured punk fury and righteous intelligence to proceedings, before White Ape nailed it with a heady, atmospheric and fresh brew of garage, British punk, Link Wray, early B52s, and Tommy's incredible charisma and the kind of lyrics you want to hear over and over again to fully appreciate them. Note I don't write about music much so I'm doing every band a disservice with my hackery.

How did we do? "Not bad!" as the saying goes. Personally it was one of my favourite shows in a long time. We played new stuff along with the best mix of old we could come up with. I think after 14 years we might have finally cracked this 'groove' thing. I bummed to have forgotten to bootleg the show. Set was:

Marina Bay Sands

Moutaineer (Red Admiral EP)

Windemere 505

Gravel Bed (O! Mighty Sea EP)

Pier 2 Pier

Tony Stark (Harvest of Sorrow)

We want to play at least 6 shows this year, so there's 5 to go. But they'll be without Moh, and it'll be a big challenge for me, Al & Beare to work out how to fill that hole.

It was a fitting live send-off for our brother. Next up - recording our masterpiece as a 4-piece!

^ apologies for the exclamation mark.